Fischtreppe Geesthacht, Fish ladder in Geesthacht, Germany

The Fischtreppe Geesthacht is a fish passage facility built alongside a dam on the Elbe River in northern Germany. It comprises numerous connected pools that allow fish to navigate upstream past the barrier and continue their migration routes.

The facility opened in 2010 as an ecological mitigation project for an industrial power station located downstream. Its construction represented a response to environmental requirements for managing riverine fish populations.

The fish are counted at an upstream trap and released back into the Elbe via a slide. The old fish ladder on the south bank, a 216-metre artificial rapid from 1998, has a service footbridge with eight gates and six control traps. The north-bank ladder was built as compensation for the Moorburg coal plant and has been run by the Elbe waterways authority since 2022.

The site is open to public access and can be explored on foot to observe how fish navigate through the system. Designated viewing areas offer good vantage points to watch the water flow and the passage structure.

After climbing, fish are counted in a catch basket and released back into the Elbe down a slide. Between 2010 and 2021, 50 species and about 2 million fish passed the weir; the highest daily count was 30,000. In August 2019 the guiding current was filled in after scouring, making the entrance harder for fish to find.